The view from the bedroom window on June 1 shows that the lilacs still have nice bloom, but there are not many flowers in bloom yet. We do move into high gear, pruning clipping and mowing to prepare for the Annual Rose Viewing which will be on Sunday, June 29 this year. The lilacs are in shade in this photo, but they are definitely finished. No hot summer weather yet, with temperatures rarely reaching 80 degrees, and lots…
We have a winner! A copy of Hellstrip Gardening: Create a paradise between the sidewalk and the curb by Evelyn J. Hadden will be sent to Rose of Rose's Prairie Garden. Congratulations, Rose!
Chasing the Rose: An Adventure in the Venetian Countryside (Knopf 26.95) is Andrea di Robilant’s quest for the name of a rose that grew on his family’s former estate near Venice. His journey took him from the wild overgrown park on the estate that had left his family decades before, to Eleanora Garlant and her rose garden, the largest in Italy with 1500 roses, as well as tales of his great-great-great-great grandmother Lucia with her love and knowledge…
I have been reading Evelyn Hadden's book Hellstrip Gardening: Create a paradise between the sidewalk and the curb, with all its beautiful photographs of the different ways a curbside garden can be created. Hadden includes gardens from across the country from Oregon and California to Minnesota and New York. Different climates and different inspirations. I was very happy that she also included Rain Gardens as one of her themes because many urban areas have a great problem with…
Evelyn J. Hadden helped us get rid of our lawns with her inspiring book Beautiful No Mow Yards, and now she has found a new place for us to plant a garden - the hellstrip - that area between the street and the sidewalk. I have just started reading Hellstrip Gardening: Create a paradise between the sidewalk and the curb. I found the title slightly misleading in that I found that Hadden's topic opened up considerably when she…
Tomorrow, Saturday June 28 is Tour Day! Next weekend will be filled with an embarrassment of garden riches. On Saturday, June 28 the Greenfield Garden Club and the Sons and Daughters of Hawley will be hosting unique garden tours. The Greenfield Garden Club Tour includes gardens where lawns have been removed, pollinators have been welcomed, fruit trees have been planted, perennials bloom lushly, and water and sculpture create a beautiful space. There is also a special opportunity, for…
Mother Nature whispered new life into our wisteria. By May 21, when the wisteria should have been in bloom, I gave up and took this photo, a closeup, hoping I could see some sign of life. My conclusion? No life. I mourned the shade I had been looking forward to. Still, I kept watering it. Wisteria is a very thirsty plant. No other incentives. In just over a month life has been restored. The piazza and the…
Preparations for the Annual Rose Viewing got off to a slow start. May was so cold that the roses weren't leafing out on schedule. I knew there would be winterkill, but I couldn’t tell where it began. Then June arrived and the roses must have felt they needed to put on some speed. Leaves, buds and even a few blossoms arrived almost at the same time. Now I am pruning out winterkill. One of the mysteries of pruning…
Ed McAvoy (88) and Lynn Hoffman ('nearly 90') are peeking into their paradise garden in Turners Falls. When Lynn and Ed built their little suite in the house belonging to Ed's daughter, they knew they had to have a garden. When I saw it I was reminded that the word paradise originally came from the old Persian word for a walled compound. This small walled garden shows that paradise can exist at any size. There is room for…
Water is an essential garden feature. It can be elaborate like this shady stone stream that empties into a stone pond. It can be in a Japanese plantscape with a fountain. A large pot with a circulating pump can be transformed into a shady water garden. Sometimes water can just be captured in the concavity of a stone. Does your garden have water? How can you create a water feature?